Live Review: Chaos Divine, Tangled Thoughts Of Leaving

Perth’s harbour of metal, Amplifier, was filled with a decently large diverse crowd, heavy on the die-hard metal lovers, for the progressive hardcore all Perth line-up of newcomers Nevsky Prospekt, the beloved anchors of heavy Tempest Rising, instrumental gurus Tangled Thoughts Of Leaving, in support of the headlining melodic progressive rockers Chaos Divine’s third studio album, Colliding Skies. 

It has been quite some time since Perth has witnessed such a heavy collective of rockers, and despite the crowd dispersing between each set, the audience would grow in size upon the appearance of each band as the night progressed. 

Walking into the band room Nevsky Prospekt were already rocking with intense solidarity and consistency alongside captivating lyrics and luring melodies. Their ability to engage the room, keep them moshing and alive for Tempest Rising was refreshing for an opener. 

Tempest Rising possess an insane stage performance that drew the fullest crowd of the evening and kept them begging for more. Each member would toy with crowd, but with a cheeky grin from ear-to-ear, showing that a band that moshes together in sync stands together in talent, consistent high caliber sound and one hell of a party on stage. The guys played a plethora of old and new tracks from No Remorse, Danger Banger and their newest, Know My Name. Frontman Vin Trikeriotis, belts out an almighty deep evil roar from the build up of gentle throat vocals, showing a depth of talent whilst also getting amongst the crowd, “Moshing guys… I think I need to get down there and show you how it is done,” and starting a mini mosh-circle. The guys certainly know how to rise to the occasion!

Tangled Thoughts Of Leaving’s instrumental web trickled through with Luke Pollard’s heavy, thick, loud bass that sent vibrations throughout the venue, amidst repetitive hypnotic loops and deep dark drones of stretched riffs and beats. Whilst the crowd did lessen somewhat in size, the music worshippers were glued to their spot nodding with every dark beat and release, as the piano heavy post-rocker Ron Pollard, punched each key with manic passion putting the crowd into a synth loop trance. The set closer, Yield To Despair, was admired for its intensity and unique eclectic territories for the instrumental giants.

Tangled Thoughts had barely finished and you already knew it was time for Chaos, with the die-hards taking their places front of stage. Chaos Divine opened in true epic style, with an old school favourite Open Door from their second album, The Human Connection, before unleashing their new progressively dynamic and emotionally charged tracks of Tides, Landmines and Mara. It’s not hard to see Chaos Divine’s Colliding Skies is one of the best progressive heavy rock albums of the year, when the album’s high standard of musical ventures and flow of emotion is backed up by a heavy prog-rock wave that rises with intense power is demonstrated on stage, through guitarists Simon Mitchell and Ryan Felton’s devotion to each note and riff, bassists Michael Kruit’s deep balanced loops, carried by the beats of Ben Mazzrol’s. Lead David Anderton, was devoted to every high and low, and pleading passionate vocals. Individually the guys may have seemed like they were glued to their own little moment, yet as a group they were consistently tenacious through sound and stage performance. 

The night came to an end with guitarist David Anderson encouraging the crowd to go metal-mental to the closing track, Soldiers, and the crowd responding in true Amps rocker lets-go-nuts style! With a divine performance, the guys of Chaos Divine are certainly ones to watch as they climb the heavy progressive rock chain.

Originally published in X-Press Magazine